Velominati Super Prestige: Le Tour de France 2013
The early eighties saw the tide change in the European Peloton. Components were taking on a new, curvy shape as they left their boxy forms behind. The glint of toe clips in the sun would become a rarer sight as the move towards clipless pedals would take hold in 1985. English speakers were winning the big races classically won by continental Pros.
The 1984 Tour could be my favorite edition of the race. In 1983, the rookie Laurent Fignon had won in the absence of Le Patron, Bernard Hinault. The 1984 race saw the two go head-to-head, with Fignon becoming the one and only person in history to have laughed at Hinault and lived. He did more than live, he won. The new guard was here, and they were making their presence known.
This photo is from the stage to l’Alpe d’Huez. LeMond was riding in support of Fignon, and Robert Millar, in his second Tour, was leading the King of the Mountains competition, which he would eventually win. Millar wrote an account of this stage in Issue 13 of Rouleur, which everyone should make an effort to find a copy of. He describes the attacks that come fast and furious on the penultimate climb in such vivid detail, it makes my guns ache. But worse than that is his and LeMonds effort to hold on to Fignon and Hinault’s wheels in the ride through the valley to Le Bourg d’Oisans and the base of the final climb. It is the perfect description of the suffering of the Cyclist. LeMond, in service to his leader, is on the front one moment as he reels Hinault in after an attack, before being cast into the gutter and the back wheel a moment later when the next attack comes.
Just as 1984 was a watershed moment in the Pro peloton, 2013 is a watershed year for the VSP. This year we are offering five amazing prizes from five amazing partners.
Prizes
First prize is a Veloforma Strada iR road frame, painted in an exclusive Velominati color scheme with the newly-designed Velominati Super Prestige logo. Please note that this is a brand-spankin’ new frame for Veloforma. The geometry can be reviewed here.
Second prize is a pair of Café Roubaix carbon tubular wheels. The winner of this prize will be given the choice between the sub-1000g Haleakala wheels or a road version of my beloved Arenberg wheelset. As an additional incentive, anyone who enters their picks in the Tour VSP will get a $200 discount on any wheelset at Café Roubaix.
Third prize is a pair of Bont cycling shoes. The winner of this prize will be assisted in selecting the size, color, and model of shoe.
Fourth prize is a Flandrian Best kit from DeFeet consisting of a wool U-D-Shirt, Arm Skins, Kneekers, Slipstreams, and a pair of V-Socks.
Fifth prize is a wool jersey from our Keepers Tour tour partners, Pavé Cycling Classics.
Many thanks to each of our sponsors for providing such exciting prizes.
Rules
Enter your picks for the top five riders on G.C. by the time the countdown clock goes to zero; Grand Tour scoring rules apply. Check the mapping of your picks by the end of Stage 1 and use the dispute system should it be mapped incorrectly.
We will be enforcing Piti Principle rules much more closely. We will be accepting pick disputes through the start of Stage 2. After that, it will be at The Keepers’ discretion as to whether or not we allow the dispute. If your pick is ambiguous and we map them to the wrong rider, make sure you check your disputes before the deadline; we may reject the dispute after that time. For example, should both Tony and Dan Martin take the start and you enter “Martin” as your pick, we will pick one for you and you will have to live with it if you forget to dispute it before the deadline.
Good luck, and Merckxspeed.
Update: This is the same paint scheme that the winner will have, except the VSP Winner’s Badge will be replacing the V-Lion.
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[vsp_results id=”24179″/]
@Chris
I’ve been an angry sports fan for a long time, rabidly screaming about doping, but I’ve decided I don’t care anymore. When every other sport is so obviously doped well beyond what we have in cycling, and cycling is at least making a show of doing something about it, I’m going to watch, be amazed at what they are doing, and continue to shake my head when it comes out that they are doping. I will continue to scream about the double standard. I don’t think cycling is clean, but relative to the cesspool that is the NFL, well it looks pretty damn good.
I’m not getting into the “Did he or didn’t he?!?” conversation about Froome, but I did just watch the 2000 stage up Mont Ventoux where COTHO and Pantani climbed with the afterburners on. That was one hell of a climb by both of them, and the way Lance backed off right at the top was enough to convince me that he’s a jerk regardless of the doping scandals.
I thought the race yesterday was really interesting, even though I needed Steakador to put some time into Froome for my VSP picks to work out. I was really impressed by Quintana, both for the results and the general style. Somebody here commented that Froome looked like a squashed crab humping a radiator and I have to agree – he may be very proficient, but it’s painful to watch.
Looking forward to that double Alpe d’Huez stage!
@scaler911
Hey, hey, some of us are curious about the location of such things. There’s always backchannel if you’re being all secretive…
@razmaspaz that last post may have benefited from an emoticon depicting sarcasm.
I’m not an angry sports fan, apart from maybe a tiny bit of shouting at the TV when southern hemisphere referees butcher a perfectly good game of rugby because understand the rules governing the breakdown or scrummaging.
Whether he is juiced or not, I think we can all agree that Froome does not Look Fantastic or have a Casually Deliberate bone in his body.
@Nate
Yeah, I think Alex from Pave’ Classics said it best, “Today I saw a yellow anorexic earpiece equipped robot climbing the Ventoux. That was ugly…”
A good place to elicit something from this “movie poster” on the well-deserved 2nd rest day — of the VSP!
@Nate
Much the same as his likeness — The Crypt Keeper
@unversio
I thought he was C3PO….?
@Deakus He has the grin of Death.
@unversio
@Chris
That wasn’t really directed at you as much as a general note on my current feelings on doping. I’m just tired of having to put the energy into deciding if I should marvel at an achievement or put a * next to it. I hate what it does to corrupt the beauty of athletic achievement, but I think I’m ready to stop wringing my hands over it, and just watch greatness.
@Buck Rogers
Evans is signed for 2014 and he (so the story goes) loves dollars almost as much as he loves Molly the kelpie. So he will be back – cos he aint getting a job being a commentator or sports personality when he is done on the bike.
I would love to see him target the Ardennes again – but that won’t happen with Gilbert in the team.
I’m thrilled I am not able to make any changes to my VSP, this way I can’t bugger it up anymore. What in the hell was I thinking putting Valverde there? Goddamn, that was a rash decision.
universio – my local theatre is run by a really good dude. They have a Bond fest going on and I just saw one of those original posters up in the lobby. I went in for a closer look, almost seems lewd even by today’s depraved standards.
They also have a retro scary movie fest that runs year round. Saw “The Warriors” on the big screen on 35mm. So sweet. I grew up watching that movie on WPIX with my big brother. I dragged the VMH along and she enjoyed it, which surprised me, as she’s more a BBC period piece viewer.
All change…negative points now probably but I was never going to win anyways…
VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. Quintana
4. Rodriguez
5. Fuglsang
I think I’m good with original picks, would like to drop Valverde, but who knows, Movistar could make something happen in the Alps…only wish I had put Quintana higher!
@Marcus
Hahaha, maybe he’ll go back to MTB riding…
VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. Porte
4. Valverde
5. Quintana
I delgado’ed the rest day, but to hell with it. A man keeps his word.
@BuckRogers, well, I guess you may have seen some of my tweets or FB comments from yesterday. Maybe not
When any other pro sport starts to test like cycling, I will continue to throw the mud back. When the NHF, NFL, NBA, MLB, World Cup, Premiership all start testing the champion team….or at least sport media start asking why aren’t they tested, I am going to keep watching, supporting, and loving the cleanest pro sport out there.
@Dan_R
Amen brother. I’m sick of cycling being the bad sport when most of the rest pay lip service to dope testing. It’s amazing how here in SE Wisconsin, Ryan Braun is still put on a good boy pedestal.
Stages like today are why I think Sky is tactically suspect.
Katusha and Rodriguez started the attacks on Col de Manse. Rodriguez is in 8th place, more than 7 minutes down. He’s got Quintana, Ten Dam, Kreuziger, Contador and Mollema to get past before he’s a threat to Froome. So why did Sky put their men on the front and chase it down ? Make the others work.
And then when Froome and Contador had their little near-crash, why did Porte do all the work to get back. Contador is three seconds ahead of Kreuziger – he could have put Kreuziger ahead of his team leader. Mollema was there as well and he would have gained time on Contador. They were never going to lose more than 15-20 seconds and he could have seriously fucked with Contador’s head and made him work.
But they just seem to have no other strategy than to dominate with pure strength.
Okay, Bauke Mollema is my new favorite cyclist. He has raced thousands of kilometers, nearly broken today.
Then what does he do? Composes himself, gives a good interview, answers questions honestly and in sentences in his second (or third? fourth?) language, gives us something to consider, admits it was hard, all with a mic stuck in his face right after he’s just put in a full-on effort.
And then? Well, he tells us he rode that fucker in the Big Ring the whole time.
Good on ya, Bauke!!
@wiscot
I quit Little League after one season because I nearly lost my mind waiting for a fly ball in the outfield. Yo La Tengo? Nope, so fucking boring.
All of this is to say that I don’t care about baseball at all. The NFL is plain weird to me, as is the NBA. It honestly depresses me that there are millions of people I live amongst who follow the sport when I think it’s crooked, rigged, and boring. That’s the key: boring.
Braun. I know nothing about baseball but wow, I was thrilled when he was caught, then I was shocked when they cleared him. Very, very clearly a doper.
It is a crime that cycling is portrayed as the only sport where the athletes are enhanced. The NFL? I’d say 100% of them are on something that is/should be considered cheating. But fuck it, let all the clowns dance along to the corporate music.
@Dan_R
I wrote this back in the immediate aftermath of the “reasoned decision.” It kind of sums up your point and I stand by the general argument…
@Steampunk I rembember reading that a while ago but hadn’t realised that it was yours. Strong work.
I generally can’t be arsed discussing doping in cycling with anyone but a small group of people outside of this site and that comes down to the fact that they can’t accept that doping is rife in most sports but they don’t know that because the testing is either extremely lax or results are routinely covered up.
I see that thibaut pinots fear of descending has finally got the better of him and he has gone home….
@Deakus
It’s really too damn bad, and I hope he gets straight to work with the right therapist. With the right help and enough persistence, I suspect he could beat this fast and hard enough to get back on the bike successfully. The Fear is a bitch, but it can be beaten.
@ChrisO
Agreed – I was listening in French on RMC and commentators (much better than P2) were lamenting SKY tactics
Mmmmmm things could be about to get really interesting!
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-shorts-rain-on-its-way-no-friends-for-team-sky
ChrisO It appeared to me that Froome tried to get Contador to contribute to the chase, but he wouldn’t. I would be more concerned about Mollema than Contador. Mollema is a good TTer, so Froome doesn’t want to lose any seconds to him by playing mind games with Contador. That makes sense to me.
@Deakus
Really sad, hope he comes back. Don’t know if anyone has already posted it, but his stage win last year, was one of the highlights.
@ChrisO
That IS a pretty effective strategy, and not just in cycling. I was yelling at the screen at that point, especially when Porte was then dropped for a while. What I find interesting is Sky’s apparently unerring belief that they are so much stronger than everyone else. That is not the way to dispell doping rumours.
It may be my conspiracy-rife imagination, but the hand signals between Spanish riders yesterday and on Venbtoux seemed to indicate collusion. Movistar, Saxo, Katusha all working together for the final week to ensure a non-Sky winner could be fun. A politically savvy Mollema could really profit from that.
@meursault
Him…..or his DS going nuts from the car!
@Deakus
You mean the great Marc Madiot!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvAdfqo43s0
@Buck Rogers
Chapeau! I had never seen that footage…some very dodgy music and commentating could not diminish the V being laid down. It made me wish it was early spring again!
@Deakus
Less tha forty riders finished that year out of something like 170. Pure fuck’in Hardcore in a bottle. If that doesn’t inspire the HTFU in you, you’re dead and should give your bike away to the first person you see. And yes, John Tesh music is not my first choice but it sure brings back memories as it seemed that all cycling coverage in the ’80’s in the US was accompanied by Tesh music.
@Deakus
That was an utterly fabulous moment. My mirror neurons were going batshit, watching that.
@PeakInTwoYears Coolass term! I had never heard of mirror neurons but have experienced them almost daily! Thanks for that!
@PeakInTwoYears, @Buck Rogers
That’s when we sit on the chouch watching a bike race go up a mountain – possibly while drinking – and we shuffle our butts around on the cushion like we’re pedaling the bikes ourselves, right?
Fuck, every time I come back to this article, I’m ashamed to see my picks. What was I thinking?
@frank
That reminds me, time to update the standings based on Van Damn dropping out of the top V. @Tartan1749 is starting to look good for the Veloforma, with an incredibly tight race for the Cafe Roubaix wheels. Just as a FYI, @Tartan1749, I finally rode mine, and it is the tits. Fits like an R3 with the same road feel (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve ridden an R3; the way the wheels hold the road is incredible) but with the stability of a Merckx. And stiffer and more responsive than any bike I’ve thrown a leg over.
@frank
And when my rectum will clutch up this Thursday morning, watching them descend.
@frank
Hang in there. Contador’s going to pull this out. Of course, I can’t help you with the last three picks, though they looked pretty ridiculous at the beginning of the Tour, too, if you ask me. TVG couldn’t finish the Tour de Suisse; Evans looked old in the Giro against weaker competition; and Hesjedal’s Canadian””much too polite to win more than one GT (and he’s probably embarrassed about that, anyway).
@frank
Yea! Go me!
@Steampunk
Contador might pull this out….. when Froome turns in a positive sample!
@Buck Rogers
Nice moment of Cyrille Guimard in the car (~4:45) urging Madiot on. Mirror image of Madiot calling to Pinot last year. And so it goes…
@paolo
I wasn’t even going to go there, but I like that Contador has pledged to attack from here on out. He almost broke Porte again today. Nice to see some positive racing and refusing to roll over.
Fuck me if Geraint Thomas is still riding with his cracked pelvis! The Alps will be interesting, hopefully they will pull each other through, not keen to see him time-barred after riding so long!
For those that miss out in the VSP prize pool, maybe we can get a group discount at a Tatt parlour to commemorate the 100th TdF?!
From CyclingTips
LeMan is in the gallery. He don’t look good?
@frank Thanks for the jinx! I was keeping an eye on that today and figured I’d jump ahead of edster99. I’m not entirely confident (ok – not at all) that Mollema can hold 11 seconds on Contador given Al’s tendency to attack and Mollema barely hanging on today. I think I’m ok after that. Given the semi mountainous ITT, I think Quintana can hold onto 5th. Will be pins and needles for me, either way!